


Finally Free

by Between_A_Dream



Series: The Taglarin Mythic BuffyVerse [4]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-18
Updated: 2016-08-18
Packaged: 2018-08-09 11:52:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7800805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Between_A_Dream/pseuds/Between_A_Dream
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At that moment they were lighter than air, soaring above the world together. Maybe they were only floating a few feet in the air, and maybe it was just above an old wooden floor. But to Tara, they were flying. And she was finally free.</p><p>Set in 5x06 and filling in the time between her family leaving and the birthday party.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Finally Free

_I'm not a demon_. That was the only thing that was going through Tara's mind. And it was true. She wasn't a demon. But even if she had been, even when she thought she was, Willow wanted her. Buffy and Dawn wanted her. Xander and Anya and Giles, they all wanted her. Even when she was supposedly a monster from hell, they wanted her. Stood up for her. Loved her.

Well, she knew that at least Willow and Dawn loved her. She wasn't sure she knew anyone else well enough yet. But they definitely cared. That was obvious. "Are you happy now?" Tara couldn't help but grin widely with newfound confidence at the words as she watched Beth stare at her.

Nothing needed to be said for her cousin to get the message and she scoffed at the group, though her anger was more directed at the young blonde witch in front of her.

"You're a disgrace. Your mother would be so disappointed," though the words didn't break the Wiccan, they did hurt, even though she knew her mother would be the exact opposite of disappointed. Turning, the older woman cast a single glance back at them, then walked out the door to the car. A pair of warm hands ran across Tara's arm and she turned to look at the red haired girl she loved so much. There were tears in her eyes, but they were mostly of joy.

"Are you um... I mean... Are you..." Willow stopped herself. Of course Tara wasn't alright. Not yet anyways. "Will you be ok?" her voice was soft, and the blonde smiled as she nodded. Then, a thought hit her and her smile faltered a bit.

"Tara? What is it? What's wrong?" Willow immediately was worried, searching her lover's face for any signs that would cause for alarm.

"Nothing, I just... I n-need to um... I need to ask them... Something," she stammered, losing some of her recently gained boldness.

"Are you... Are you alright to do that? I mean, do you want me to go with you?" the ginger gripped her hand and Tara shook her head.

"I need to go a-alone. I'll be alright, I promise," the blonde haired Wiccan kissed her girlfriend's cheek softly, then slowly turned and took in a deep breath before she walked out the door.

She walked slowly up to the camper where her father and Donny stood by the car talking quietly with Beth. They all turned as the youngest member of their family approached quietly.

"What, did you change your mind?" Beth spat. Tara shook her head.

"I haven't. B-But you... You all owe me an answer. Did mom... Did mom know? Did she think she w-was... Was a demon? When she... Y-You know?" the blonde cursed herself for stuttering.

She wanted to prove she was confident enough to stand up to her blood relatives, but talking about her mom always made her upset, especially to people who cared so little for her.

All three of them stared at her, and for what seemed like eternity no one said anything. Finally, her brother stepped forward.

"Beth, get in the car," Donny ordered, and Tara felt slightly bad when she saw how easily the red haired woman obeyed. She had been brain washed. When they were younger, Beth was a free spirit, carefree and happy, much like Tara herself, and they had been much closer. But now, it was like she was in a trans, under her family's control.

"You have no right to talk about her," Donny spoke harshly, stepping towards her. The old Tara, or even, the Tara she had been ten minutes ago, would have shrunk back in fear, run back to the shop, or maybe called for Willow's help.

She probably even would have believed the lies her family had been shooting at her all night. That she didn't have a right to talk about her mother. That she was a disgrace. That no one would love her when they saw her "true face" which didn't even exist. But now, as she stood truly looking for the first time at her blood relative, she no longer felt any fear. In fact, she almost felt relieved.

"I have every right. She was the only one who ever cared about me in this family. She... She didn't know," it wasn't a question- she already knew the answer by the way Donny and her dad looked at her. The blonde stared at her father.

There wasn't a trace of compassion anywhere on his face. He simply stood glaring back at her with dead, lifeless eyes. Eyes that had once looked at her with love and concern. Eyes that had lost that love when he found out about her magic, and ever since had looked upon her in judgement and disappointment. At least, until now.

Now, there wasn't even emotion. There was nothing. No anger, no disgust, no judgement. He didn't even care enough to hate her. Tara wasn't sure if that was better or worse. At least when he was disgusted to look at her he felt something.

But then again, maybe it was a good thing that he no longer did. Still, for the man she called her father to not even care enough to feel anything hit her harder than she would have liked to admit, especially after what he had put her through.

Donny's expression, however, was a much different one- and it was one of rage. He took another step closer and as the next moment passed by her in a blur, she felt a surge of pain in her nose. It took her a moment to realize that she'd been punched in the face, much harder than Spike had done earlier.

Maybe she heard cracking- she wasn't entirely sure. She felt blood dripping down from her nose, but the pain didn't bother her. Not when she realized that she knew why he had hit her. A smile graced her lips as she looked between the two men in front of her. It was amazing how scared she had been of them for so long.

Donny was nothing. He always had acted so strong, like he would always be able to control her. And yet, one fiery shot from Xander had been enough to stop him from saying another word. That was all it had taken to break him. Her father was even less of a man than her brother, if that were in any way possible.

His only leverage to control Tara had been his claim that she was a demon, saying that nobody would want her when they found out the truth. But Willow did want her. And so did Dawn and the rest of the Scoobie gang. They wanted her. And then it was proven that her "demon" didn't even exist. His argument had fallen apart then. He had nothing on her. Neither of them did.

"You're weak," she quipped with a crooked smirk on her lips, but there was no joy in her voice. Donny struck her again, this time in her eye. It was probably going to be black, but she didn't care. The contact only caused her to chuckle.

"You can't control me anymore." This time the punch came against her cheek. She did hear a crack that time, and the pain that coursed through her face was excruciating, but the smile on her face didn't change, and the laughter in her throat didn't die.

"You don't own me. Not anymore. You'll never own me again. You're the real demons," she braced herself for the next punch, but it never came. He glared at her, pulled back, then stopped himself and stared at his hand. He unclenched his fist. He spat in her face and sneered.

"You're not even worth it," he snarled at her. "It's no fun when you don't fight back. Let's face it, if you're little red haired friend hadn't been there you'd have cracked in an instant," Tara smiled as her brother continued. She figured nothing worse could happen if she told them the truth.

"Maybe you're right. Maybe I would have. But Willow... She's not my friend. She's my girlfriend," the blonde watched for any sort of reaction. She almost hoped there would be. Nothing. Donny rolled his eyes and got in the camper.

Tara watched as her dad looked at her, shook his head, and got in the driver's seat before pulling out and starting down the road. Another laugh escaped her lips and she felt tears dripping down her face, so she wiped away some of the mixture of salt water and blood.

She waited until the car was out of sight before heading back to the magic shop. She was sure that if Willow had any chance to do so she would confront her family, and Tara worried that she still would try in some way. When she walked back inside, everyone stared at her with wide eyes.

"Tara! Oh goddess, what the hell happened? Did Donny... If he hurt you..." Willow trailed off as she walked up to her lover, her eyes brimmed with tears. She cringed as she reached up, gently wiping away a bit of blood from Tara's lip. The blonde shook her head and smiled, clutching her girlfriend's hands in her own and kissing her deeply on the lips.

The action took the auburn haired witch by surprise, but she kissed back after a moment. The kiss didn't last long, but it explained everything Tara needed to say without her actually saying it. Willow understood and smiled into the kiss. When they did pull away, they kept their foreheads pressed together, their noses just millimeters apart.

"I'm ok. They're gone... I have you... And I'm ok," Tara spoke with confidence gleaming in her blue eyes. She was suddenly knocked backwards by a tight embrace around her body- not from Willow, but from Dawn.

She hugged the teenager back, smiling and laughing and crying all at the same time as she did so. She could now feel a lot of the pain, but she didn't exactly mind. Willow quickly followed suit, throwing her arms around the blonde Wiccan's upper body.

Soon Tara was completely surrounded by a mess of warm bodies hugging her from all sides. Everyone except Spike, who only stood leaning against his position on the wall, but who did give her a small smile. She wasn't sure what message he was trying to portray through it.

Maybe some form of mutual respect or admiration, maybe his way of saying "Way to take a punch, kid", or maybe just his way of saying that he did care. She didn't know what conclusion to draw, but she smiled back nevertheless.

Tara then closed her eyes and let herself cry again, a mixture of emotions channeling through her body as she took solace in the arms encircling her on all sides.

Family. That's what they called her. That's what she was to them. She wasn't a demon, she wasn't a burden, she wasn't some slave who was wanted because there was housework that needed to be completed. She wasn't connected to them because of bloodlines, but that didn't matter. She was family. She had a real family.

She wondered if they knew- if they really knew- just how much their words meant. No one had ever wanted her before. Not enough to go against her family.

No one had ever stood up against her father just to be around her. No one had ever stood up against him at all for that matter. When she was younger, the only friends she ever managed to make would run and flee as soon as her father said he didn't approve of them, which was really anyone she dared to bring home.

She hadn't known them very long, but these people, Willow and the Scoobies, possibly even Spike in some way, had a bond stronger than anything she had ever felt with anyone besides her mother. Willow looked up at her and ran a hand through her blonde locks. She couldn't contain the grin that made it's way upon her lips.

"I love you," the red haired girl mouthed to her.

Tara blushed and held her hand over her lover's as she mouthed back, "I love you too."

* * *

At her birthday party, Tara spent the night enjoying herself, enjoying her new found freedom. She wore more make up than usual, which really was none at all most of the time, but most of it was concealer for the bruises from Donny on her face.

The ever so small group of friends she had outside Willow and the Scoobies came as well, and though she didn't talk to them a whole lot, she did make sure they knew how much she appreciated that they came, and was grateful that no one questioned about the few bruises that no matter how hard Dawn tried could not be completely concealed. She wasn't sure she would have been able to answer.

She couldn't help laughing at the gifts she was given- a crystal ball from Giles, a necklace with a small seashell charm from Dawn (As well as the joke broomstick), a sweater from Buffy, a book about birds in France from Anya (She could only imagine it was because she had mentioned she liked birds and wanted to visit France someday, though in separate conversations), a poster with a large image of a dream catcher and a bracelet from Xander, and a new pair of boots from Riley.

When Tara was sitting at a table alone was when Willow took the opportunity to present her own gift to her lover. She smiled as she walked up to the table and wrapped her arms around her girlfriend from behind. The blonde smiled and leaned back into the embrace.

"Having fun?" the red haired girl whispered, placing a gentle kiss below her ear. The golden haired Wiccan grinned and nodded. "Good, I'm glad. Also... I have something for you," Willow grinned and pulled from behind her back a small box, wrapped with gold and silver.

"Willow... I told you that you didn't have to get me anything," Tara blushed as she was handed the box.

"Oh sure, I'm not going to get my girlfriend something on her birthday. Just open it," the red head smiled and watched as her lover slowly pulled the ribbons and took the top off. As she did, she couldn't hold back the gasp.

Inside was a thin, golden ribbon that was partially translucent with a heart secured on the end. Within the heart were swirls of gold, green, silver, and blue. The heart itself was made of crystal clear glass.

"Do you... Do you like it?" Willow asked hopefully.

"Like it? Oh my god, Willow I... I love it!" Tara threw her arms around her lover and hugged her tightly. A few tears formed in her eyes as she looked at the necklace.

"Where did you get this?" she asked, still in awe of the gift.

"Well I... I kind of made it. It's enchanted," the red haired girl blushed as she answered.

"Enchanted? To do what?" the blonde questioned as she fastened it around her neck. As she did so, the colors of the necklace swirled.

"It's a mood necklace! But you know, it actually works," Willow giggled and Tara couldn't help joining in. "Blue is relaxed, black is sad, red is angry, green is happy, purple is lonely, orange is worried, and my personal favorite, rainbow is-" the ginger Wiccan was cut off.

"Love?" her blonde lover asked.

"Yeah, how did you..." the auburn haired witch trailed off when she saw the necklace that was now swirling with rainbow colors inside. "Yeah. Love," she grinned and pulled her girlfriend into a tight hug.

"I love it Willow, thank you," Tara was about to kiss her, but suddenly both women were dragged by Xander and Anya to the pool table.

"Come on girls, you up for a rematch?" the taller man laughed. Both witches grinned and nodded, and he tossed each one a pool stick before wracking the balls at the end of the table.

* * *

"So, what's an eagle reflection?" Tara was about to answer Anya's question, but before she could speak her girlfriend was suddenly by her side.

"My dance?" she raised an eyebrow and the blonde haired witch blushed. She'd forgotten that she promised the red head a dance, even though she hated dancing in front of people, or at all really. She let Willow take her hand and guide her out on to the dance floor.

As soft music played in the background, they wrapped their arms around each other and matched their pace to the beat, swaying back and forth.

"Good birthday?" Willow smiled at her lover.

"Best birthday," Tara grinned, and it was the truth.

Her necklace hadn't yet changed since she'd put it on- the rainbow inside still swirled vibrantly. She had never experienced a better birthday in her life.

True, she didn't have many to compare- after her dad found out about her magic he stopped throwing her parties. After two years of parties without him, they were completely forbidden, so she and her mother would always celebrate in secret at night. While she loved celebrating with her mother, the fact that she had to do so in secret only made her feel less loved.

But now she was surrounded by an entire room of people who did care for her and love her. She wished her mother could've been there to experience it with her. As she thought of her mother, the colors of her necklace changed slightly. They were still rainbow, but a thin stream of black swirled within them now.

"I still can't believe you didn't tell me about your family and all that," Willow looked at her questioningly.

"I was just afraid that... If you saw the kind of people I came from... You wouldn't wanna be anywhere near me," the golden haired witch admitted, her necklace changing completely to bright orange. Willow looked down and sighed.

"See, that's where you're a dummy," the ginger spoke without smiling. She wanted Tara to know she was serious. "I think about what you grew up with, and then I... I look at what you are... It makes me proud. It makes me love you more," she continued.

"Every time I'm... Even... When I'm at my worst... You always make me feel special... How do you do that?" Tara looked curiously at her girlfriend. A large smile broke out on her face as she spoke a single word.

"Magic."

The two smiled at each other and rested their heads on each other's shoulders. Tara's necklace slowly swirled back to rainbow as she took solace in the warm feeling of Willow's arms.

She wasn't a demon. She wasn't a monster. She wasn't trapped anymore. She was safe. She was happy. She was loved. She had a family and was given the confidence to stand up to her father and brother.

From the side of the room, Dawn, Buffy, Xander and Anya stood watching the couple with a large smile on their faces. Tara could feel eyes on her but they weren't eyes of judgement or hatred, and she sighed happily. She had found her way. She had found her family. She had found her soulmate.

At that moment they were lighter than air, soaring above the world together. Maybe they were only floating a few feet in the air, and maybe it was just above an old wooden floor. But to Tara, they were flying. And she was finally free.


End file.
